AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums Belize Life Living in Belize Looking at Moving to San Pedro and Owning Business

The key difference being that here there's effectively no civil law system to fall back on when you're shafted. Sure the framework is there, but it's so subverted by corruption and inefficiency that it's largely worse than useless.

I came with my children for the month of June when they got out of school to be sure they could deal with living here before they started school in Aug. That worked for us.
Dianne is right about the kids.. "may see some positive changes in your offspring as a result of the move".

YES read the book "Don't Stop the Carnival"

If i were going to open or buy a business. I would offer to PAY someone for consulting or actually I would pay 2 or 3 people. I don't know anyone that offers this service but I feel sure taking a few people from this board out for a nice dinner will get you some ideas of some good business deals or bad ones.
Check to see who owns a business and would be willing to give you advice and buy them dinner and a few drinks and see what you learn. Just my thoughts out how to get good info.
Mary

Buying a business anywhere is very tricky. Small businesses are notoriously difficult to track, especialy here.
In Belize taxes are figured on gross sales - far simpler book-keeping, but sometimes not as detailed as buyer would find enlightening. In family businesses the business assets often do double duty for personal things, giving a benefit that just doesn't show up on the books. Then there is the interesting aspect of many a business here where the current owner has not even remotely realized an existing potential because they don't want to work that hard.

Best advice if you are thinking of opening or buying a business -look at seasonal trends and cost of goods, understand the tax structure and labour laws, then make your own business plan. Buy based on what you can do, not what somebody else did.

One great little business we all miss is Barefoot Books --- wish you had been round to buy that one - maybe the stock is available someplace?

Great Responses,
Thank you all and I am going to try to respond based on order of posts.
First, it is great to hear that it sounds like the community puts alot of focus on their children. We have also worked very hard with our children on respecting and having good manners around other people(now if they could only be as good at home as they are in public), but I guess that is better than being just the opposite.

As for working with the locals, thank you for all the great advice. I have always taken the attitude that working together we can achieve more. I do find it interesting I have heard so many times that work should go to the locals first. I have always chosen employees based on qualification, although you would think that the majority of persons applying will be locals anyways. Also I look forward to working hard although I just do not think that I will want to work close to 100 hours a week as I do now and have for enough years to know that I am tired of it. Chasing the almighty dollar is not all there is, if you do not have time to Laugh, Relax and Enjoy your Family & Life, is it all worth it? No need for money in Heaven..

It is a good thing that people do not generally speak poorly of others as that just usually comes back to bite you.

I will reserve the book through the Library and read it.

From what I have read it sounds like the education is not that bad and we have already discussed supplementing their education with extras.

Consulting is a great idea. If there are a few business owners out there that would be willing to work together in order for us to provide the customers and community with a better product and atmosphere I would definitely be willing to do dinner and drinks(as long as we do not drink to much as we still need to be able to function productively :-) ha-ha.) Tks Mary..

I have been studding the seasonal trends but still need more, but it will come. Also, I have been researching the tax and labour laws, although will need to consult with an attorney and business owners on more detail, which I plan on doing when I arrive. I have already started on a preliminary yearly budget and am compiling notes on putting together a business plan, so thank you for the advice. I do understand the benefits of business assets on how they will play a roll on the personal cost to the monthly family budget, but maybe someone will think of something else as we move forward.

Lastly, I would like to know what is Barefoot Books? is it a book store? Maybe that can be incorporated into current ideas.

So thank you to all and it seems like everyone that has responded has some great ideas and knows alittle something and could be very helpful to us on a possible transition.
Nick

Barefoot Books was a very nice book store. There is a thread on it from about a month ago. There is a new book store called Pages opening up soon. Just as an FYI

Everyones advise is pretty much dead on. This is a lovely place to live and I am currently raising my child. There are several good schools including ACES and Island Academy.
When budgeting with children remember that you will be paying for tuition for any of the schools some are higher some lower. Look at all the costs especially of things you are not willing to live without.

The one thing that I have done that has helped me enjoy living on the island is getting involved with the community. There are so many wonderful organizations or fund raisers that you can help with. This has given me a great sense of community.
Good luck my daughter and I both love it here.

Thanks Purdygrl,
We currently have our children in private school, which runs about the same or a little more than the current fees at Island Acadamy. Not sure about there, but here they also get you on many, many yearly fundraisers and extra costs, which I would say adds aleast 1/2 or more again than what the tuition is per child.

As far as the education goes, you may be very surprised on this front. When we came down, we brought many supplemental books to make sure our son was on track. We never cracked a one! My son attended Isla Bonita Elementary and the curriculum was aggressive and well above what we would have had in the states. For ex, in Standard one-they were doing multiplication tables up to 15. My son had come from a Montessori background and he had to work very hard to keep up with the other kids. He had a min. of one hour of homework and sometimes as much as 4 hours EVERY DAY-NO EXCEPTIONS. Here in the states, he is now in third grade at a very good school and his teachers are amazed at how far ahead of the game. I would love to say its his genes/our excellent parenting but it was really the serious ass kicking homework and high expectations/work ethic he learned at Isla Bonita.

Hey... this is Mrs. Greenthumb... just wondering why you moved back?

It is good to hear that about the schools... the impact this kind of move would have on the children is the biggest issue I need overcome.. especially the education.

Though today it is in the 20s (F) and we are getting 4-6 inches of snow so I think I would rather be down there!!

We went into it knowing that we were planning a single year there ( my husband was on sabbatical) so we didn't leave because anything was wrong, just ran out of time!

Hello all,
Just wanted to say again that I would be happy to take a few business leaders and locals to dinner in order to have a better understanding of life and business in San Pedro. Also would like it if everyone could keep there eyes and ears open to any good deals on flights, as we are still planing on coming down in mid January. I am coming form Minnesota, although I did notice the post of $88 from Toronto, Canada, but when I went to the website it was already booked. I do not need a flight out of Minnesota directly. If the deal is good enough I might be able to fly to that city and than on the Belize for less.
Thanks!
Nick